UT sets up panel to draft Town & Country Planning Bill

The UT administration has constituted a committee to draft the Town and Country Planning Bill so as to ensure a statutory status to the 'Master Plan 2031' of the city. The Master Plan has been prepared under clause 4 of the Capital of Punjab Act, 1952.

The UT administration has constituted a committee to draft the Town and Country Planning Bill so as to ensure a statutory status to the 'Master Plan 2031' of the city. The Master Plan has been prepared under clause 4 of the Capital of Punjab Act, 1952.

According to senior officials, the committee comprising officials of the department of urban planning would study the Town and Country Planning Acts implemented in different states of the country before preparing the draft Bill for Chandigarh.

The draft Bill would then be sent to the ministry of home affairs (MHA) for approval. UT chief architect Sumit Kaur had recently submitted the draft of the Master Plan to UT adviser KK Sharma.

The administration had sought more time from the Punjab and Haryana high court for finalising the Master Plan 2031. The next date of hearing has been fixed for July 15. The counsel appearing on behalf of the administration had informed the high court that they were yet to consider the objections to the new Master Plan, after which a notification on the issue would be issued.

Once the Master Plan is finalised, city residents would be asked to submit their suggestions and objections within a few weeks. The draft would then be notified in a gazette and public notices issued in newspapers. The final notification would be done after considering all the suggestions and objections raised by the Chandigarh residents.

The UT authorities started working on the Master Plan on high court directions, after which an expert committee with Sumit Kaur as chairperson was constituted to prepare the 2031 Plan.

After labouring for more than three years, the department of urban planning came up with the UT Master Plan 2031, keeping in mind the future requirements of the city residents. The Master Plan proposed development of residential, commercial, industrial, public/semi-public areas, traffic, transport and green spaces.